terrifying scenes as flames race through a crowded nightclub in brazil. more than 230 people are dead. hello, i'm bruce johnson. thanks for joining us. we'll have the latest on that tragedy in brazil in a moment. first, freezing rain and sleet headed this way for the

morning commute. there are already school closings and delays. the federal government will now open at noon. let's go to meteorologist erica grow. >> it's good idea to delay that opening, because the worst of it will be over by noon. let's take a look at that advisory in effect for the entire metro area. all the counties highlighted in purple are under that advisory. the expiration times are at staggered times but everyone will be out of the advisory by 150bg a.m. so this is over and done with by midmorning. you can see on satellite and radar the wintry mix approaching from the north, starting to skirt the mason dixon line and move into the panhandle of maryland. rain basically all south of there. however, as temperatures continue to fall close to freezing we will see that rain falling and freezing on any untreated surfaces. we're already below freezing in places like, let's see, we have a temperature of 30 in rockville, 29 in bethesda,

right at the freezing point. lots of places below freezing. 31 in centreville. so this storm will continue to move toward us from west to east. some sleet mixing in, but most of us just see a light coating of freezing rain. if the salt was down, that would be enough to keep the roadways from being slick. in fact, we'll dry out, then we warm up as well. i'll give you more details on that coming up in your full weather forecast. bruce, back to you. >> thanks, erica. be sure to tune in tomorrow morning beginning at 4:25 for the latest on any school and traffic delays. survivors describe a terrifying scene as deadly flames race through a crowded nightclub in southern brazil, killing more than 230 people. they say panicked club goers struggled for air. in some cases, their very last

breath, while stampeding toward the exit. about 900 people were inside. witnesses say a flare or fire work lit by band members may have started this blaze. >> reporter: police are guarding a burned out nightclub in southern brazil where hundreds of people died. early sunday morning, rescue workers scrambled to pull victims out of the burning building. club goers and firefighters worked together to use sledge hammers to tear down a wall to reach hundreds of people trapped inside. witnesses say the kiss nightclub in santa maria filled with smoke and flames moments after a member of a band lit a flare on stage. survivors described a chaotic race to reach the only exit. they claim security guards stopped people because they thought patrons were trying to leave without paying their bills. and firefighters say they couldn't get in and party goers couldn't get out because bodies

started to pile up and block the door. ambulances rushed the injured to the hospital. doctors say many of the victims died from smoke inhalation, and some were trampled. a bouncer says the club was packed with more than 1,000 people. santa maria is a university town, the and officials say some students were there attending a party. family members broke down as they found out their loved ones had died. but this man says his daughter's name has not been released, so his family is still holding out hope. brazil's president cut short a trip to chile to rush back home. she says the brazilian people will stand together during this national tragedy. tatiana anderson for cbs news. >> tonight a doctor who has been treating victims says most of the dead appear to have suffocated. it could happen here? surae chinn has reaction from local emergency responders. they warn that you should know how to get out of a nightclub

before going into that club. >> reporter: neddy junior is the vip manager. >> we have two exits, the front exit and back exit. we also keep count of how many people are in the building. >> reporter: maximum capacity allows 180 people for the first floor of the nightclub. >> and the second level is 70 people. security is told to tell everyone to talk. >> reporter: know a second way out. >> they're all going that way, you're going that way, because you picked it out. >> reporter: prince george's fire chief mark bayshore says people panic and rush to the same door they came in. survivors of the deadly nightclub fire in brazil say there was a complete panic. it reminds of us the rhode island nightclub fire that

killed 100 people in 2003 after the rock band great white set off a pyrotechnic display. >> there was absolutely no fire flare. as far as you know, bartenders making tricks with fire, we don't allow that. >> chief bayshore says fire turns your surroundings dark very quickly, so drop to the ground. more important, know your exits. >> they come in for a good time. they're not there looking for a second exit. if you see something that doesn't look right, say something. >> reporter: a few moments of planning can keep you safe and alive. surae chinn, wusa 9. >> prince george's county alone shut down some 19 clubs in the last year and a half because of violations. i talked with fire chief mark bayshore in our studio earlier this evening. he says there are more dangerous places still open, and they're not all nightclubs. that interview later after the break. a community comes together

to mourn two lives lost. laura snyder gardner and her 16- year-old daughter died in a fair on january 23rd. both were deaf and part of the gallaudet university community. a memorial service was held today. >> reporter: those hear today remember the mother and daughter not for how they died but for how they lived, many calling them inspirational. you could feel the love in the room at gallaudet university as those here remembered laura snyder gardner and her daughter. >> it's so hard to understand why they're gone. >> reporter: hundreds showed up to celebrate their lives, many wearing their favorite colors, pink and yellow. >> seeing this pink and yellow is just amazing. i don't think i'll ever be able to look at pink and yellow without thinking of these two women. >> reporter: the two died after a fire broke out at their home. both were deaf and part of the gallaudet university community.

48-year-old laura taught this and her daughter attended the school for the debt. as family and friends spoke, it became clear both were known for their love of laughter. >> she loved to say that laughter was the best medicine. >> the evidence in pictures and videos as well as the personal stories shared by those who knew them best. laura's son told this story about how his mother taught him to do laundry. >> i get home, i look, all my underwear, all my socks are pink. i said, mom, what happened to my underwear? i don't know what you mean. i said, they're all pink. she said, oh, i washed them with your red stuff. it's my favorite color now. >> each speaker said they would want loved ones to move forward. the laughter they inspired in their lives now helping family and friends cope with their deaths. >> they will be missed. they will beloved, but they will never be forgotten. we love you, mom and sis.

>> laura snyder gardner was from wisconsin, and her and her daughter will both be laid to rest there. wusa 9. >> the scholarship fund has been set up in their honor. to make a donation go to giving.gallaudet.edu/gardner fund. students on alert tonight. the first incident happened around 3:00 this morning outside the shanghai cafe on baltimore avenue. police say the victim suffered minor injuries when three suspects punched him in the face and took his wallet and cell phone. they were caught and charged. but not far away there was a robbery attempt at the varsity off-campus housing, also on baltimore avenue. a man tried to rob a student of his laptop. the two scuffled, and the would- be robber fled on foot. still to come on wusa 9, an american soldier in afghanistan capturing his chilling battle ground experience on video.

coming up later tonight, a darg rescue of two women and an infant

it looks like a new video game but the images on this video are very real. private first class ted daniels captured video of his experience in afghanistan by

attaching a camera to his helmet. the compelling firsthand video even captures the day private daniels was hit by enemy fire. >> help me! i'm hit! i'm hit! i'm hit! i'm hit! >> private daniels survived his injuries. his video recently went viral, becoming a youtube sensation, and also appearing in a music video by ice cube. daniels says he purchased his go pro hero 3 helmet camera for about $250 at the army post exchange. the video camera has become so popular with the military that the company started making a mount especially designed to attach to combat helmets. more than 230 people to recap our top story, have been killed in a nightclub fire in brazil. local fire officials are using the tragedy to issue warnings

that similar tragedies could still happen here despite toughen forcement of fire codes. i talked with fire chief mark bashora. >> what did you think? >> horrific. one more incident where i know the local fire chief has to be despondent over the number of families that are involved in this. what all of his firefighters have to deal with, with picking up the pieces. >> but given all your experience, this is clearly something that calf been prevented. >> well, typically in these situations, they are in occupancies that have not been appropriately designed for the event that's going on there. they don't have the number of exits. they don't have the alarm systems. i don't know enough specifics about this particular one, but in every other one that you do research on, this looks -- this could be any one of those. >> let's talk about the situation here. you've closed down places, i

think 19 in the past two years, for violations. are there still a lot of these places in prince george's county throughout the area? >> there are a lot of different clubs that operate, whether they're dance clubs, whether they are supper clubs, all those types of things, all over the region. all of the local fire and ems departments have prevention bureaus that are involved in getting out and inspecting them. so they are still out there. we are aggressively, though, using the life safety code. >> i want to make sure i'm clear. when you say they're still out there, we're talking about out there in violation? >> we find them in violation and shut them down. there is a strict permitting process, but there are always people that try to get around that process. >> when we say in violation of fire code what are we talking about? too many people? >> there's a couple different things. one is during the permitting process where they don't have the fire extinguishers, they don't have the sprinkler systems. the other are, when they are in operation and we find them in overcrowding or when the police departments go in and deal with violence. in the cases of overcrowding

the fire departments can shut them down right away on the spot. we have folks on duty 24 hours a day that go out and make sure that gets done. >> and this goes on in all the jurisdictions. >> absolutely. >> and there are illegal clubs or operations, and they're not just clubs. some are charitable organizations, some might be churches, social organizations, that are outside the code, right? >> there are a lot of places that mean well. they just want to do something for their con stitt you wean see, and in most cases, they don't know what the code is. >> and because they don't know they can become dangerous places. >> absolutely. it's upon us as departments and individuals and parents to watch what they're doing. >> what should young people look for? if it's too crowded, don't go in? >> one of the things we tell people to look for is a second exit. you go in, you come in the front door, that's the only thing you know. and when panic and fear strike, that's what you are going to revert to. >> what about these places you can't even see an exit?

>> we tell people to remove themselves. you should never knowingly put yourself into a situation that you know is dangerous. look for exit signs, look for occupancy certificates on the walls, look for fire pull stations. you can lack up for sprinkler heads. a lot of times, though, they're hidden. you just to have look for them. >> what should parents do, knowing that your young adult is going out there? what can a parent do? >> find out the name of the assembly that the folks are going to. they can research through the better business bureau or through their local fire marshal's office whether that is a reputable business night. want to go back to 2003, rhode island, 100 people killed. you must have thought about that place again when you saw what happened. >> absolutely. there's several fires that sting fire chiefs' minds. >> what happened in rhode island again? walk us through. >> rhode island was very similar to the brazil situation. it was a party club. they began with a fair works demonstration on stage, and

within two minutes of the fireworks in the beginning of that concert, the entire stage was on fire and people were already trying to get out the front door. at the beginning, it looked like they thought it was part of the, a then a few people in front realized, and they turned around, and before you knew it, within two minutes, they were people piled in the doorway stuck and couldn't get out. it wasn't fire that killed a lot of those people. it's smoke and trampling. >> fair to say that's your biggest fear? another situation like rhode island, another situation like brazil? >> any time we lose a resident, or anybody in the county, that's a fear of mine. and when we -- especially when we have young people involved who aren't thinking and a lot of times have alcohol and other things involved in what's going on, they're just not able to think right that is one of my biggest fears, yes. >> chief, thanks a lot. appreciate it. >> okay, thank you. >> coming up on 9news, terrifying moments for two

women with a baby caught in rising flood waters. and freezing rain and sleet could make for a messy

in australia a dramatic rescue when two women and a baby were lifted to safety from rising flood waters. the infant was placed in a plastic bag, then lifted up to a helicopter. elsewhere, at least one person was killed, several others were hurt when heavy rain, tornado, and flooding inundated parts of queensland. tonight more than 58,000 homes are without power. flood hag left homes underwater and several towns isolated. as you probably know, it's summertime down there in australia. >> okay. >> so we are in the dead of winter. >> and we've got some winter weather. >> yes, we have a little bit of wintry weather on the way, but once we get past tomorrow morning we're in really good shape. some really nice, mild temperatures moving in, and you are going to enjoy it. take a look with the michael and son weather cam. we're looking at the national mall, washington monument right at the freezing point at reagan national. the dew point is 20, and that's kind of bad news actually, because as the rain starts to make its way toward us, it is going tone counter what's

called evaporational cooling. so we'll see some of that moisture evaporate, and it will cool the air mass. so we are going to see temperatures remaining below freezing all night long, even though we have that freeze out of the south at 8. the humidity 61%. a look at your weather headlines. wintry weather is on the approach, and it will lead to slick spots during the morning rush hour, but it gets milder in the afternoon. so everything is going to melt as we head toward the noontime hour. lucy that in just a second. it will be dry by the time we get to that afternoon rush hour as well. temperatures well below freezing in parts of the beltway. 27 north of the beltway in frederick, 30 in martinsburg and winchester, 28 in manassas right now. it's 32 in downtown d.c. you can see that rain and snow and wintry mix approaching. the pink is an indication where you have some sleet pellets mixing in with freezing rain. the blue is all snow. that's well to the north. the green is the rain but see what happens as it gets into the higher elevations in the

mountains and as it starts to encounter some of that air that's below freezing that changeover starts to has. you will see that on 9 futurecast as well. as we head to 4:poo in the morning, tune in for all the update. we do have that icy mix approaching the beltway. it starts to move in for monday morning rush. however, it will quickly change over to rain. not a lot of rain to begin with. we are only going to see a couple hundredths of an inch in some parts. so everything melts by noon, and then in the afternoon, early evening, a few more showers moving through. you can see them on 9 futurecast for the dinner time hour. but everything will be pork out of here as we head toward tuesday. tuesday the pick of the week. really nice weather into tuesday's forecast. overnight mostly cloudy. temperatures, definitely below freezing, 21 to 28 degrees. during the morning, that's the worst part tomorrow morning.

freezing rain and some sleet, but it melts by noon. temperatures in the 20s and 30s in the morning but then in the afternoon, we'll rise into the 40s. good news for that melting. a stray shower is still possible but for the most part we are going to be in the clear. tomorrow's 9 weather alert is yellow because of that icy mix that we'll have in the morning. on tuesday we'll see a beautiful day, mostly cloudy but milder with a high of 58. wednesday this would be a great day to get outside with a high of 62, but then we have more rain moving in. a strong cold front on the way is going to bring aus big dip in temperatures once we get past wednesday's forecast. so thursday is still a pretty nice day, but back into the 30s we go on friday, saturday, and sunday. mid-30s for our highs. looks like we could see a few snow showers on saturday but that's it. not a big daily. the big deal will be in tomorrow morning's rush hour. that's it, though, just the

rush hour. >> that 62 degrees, that's a big deal. >> looking forward to the. >> breckenridge, colorado, scene of some larger than life art this weekend. that's where men and women are carving into the snow as part of an annual competition. 15 teams have been working to turn blocks of snow into works. >> reporter: this is a great big polar bear that has had its stomach split open and there's a very scared grandson so it's a legend about value every person in society. >> this year's warmer temperatures posed a problem for some of the artists and some of the sculptures actually collapsed. sports is

it is officially super bowl week. the san francisco 49ers arrived in new orleans earlier. the ravens don't leave until tomorrow. there's a big going away party in the inner harbor. they will get in about 4:00 tomorrow. i get into new orleans about 1:30 tomorrow and we'll have live coverage all week long from new orleans. but of course tonight on "game on overtime" we are going break down the big game, see who has the advantage. >> good for the cats. and you're taking a big

entourage. >> jc, andrea, kristin fisher. >> behave yourself. we've notified police you're coming. it is going to be a light wintry mix. however, it will be just enough to cause problems on untreated roadways. in the afternoon we're well above freezing so everything will melt, and it will be dry by the afternoon. >> quick hitter. >> that's right. >> then a 62 coming later. "game

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